


Eleventh Anime

by Siderea



Series: Green Grow the Rushes [2]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - Digimon Fusion, Alternate Universe - G-Gundam Fusion, Alternate Universe - Gokusen Fusion, Alternate Universe - Magic Knight Rayearth Fusion, Alternate Universe - Outlaw Star Fusion, Alternate Universe - Saiyuki Fusion, Alternate Universe - Skip Beat! Fusion, Alternate Universe - Sword Art Online Fusion, Alternate Universe - Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Fusion, Alternate Universe - Vampire Game Fusion, Alternate Universe - Yu Yu Hakusho Fusion, Multi, Tags will be updated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-26 18:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6250237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siderea/pseuds/Siderea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eleven anime AUs featuring the characters of Deep Space Nine.  No knowledge of the anime should be necessary, although familiarity might deepen your appreciation and knowledge of the DS9 characters is encouraged.  Each chapter will have its own summary and tags will update with each chapter.</p><p>Sixth: Outlaw Star<br/>Seventh: Sword Art Online<br/>Eighth: Skip Beat!<br/>Ninth: Magic Knight Rayearth<br/>Tenth: Vampire Game<br/>Eleventh: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gokusen: Dinner with the Daxes

**Author's Note:**

> Part two in my DS9 AU series. For those just reading this story, each work in this series will have a different theme for the AUs involved and might stretch the definition of 'alternate universe'. The idea originated, insofar as I know, in the Teen Wolf fandom, although I have changed a lot of it, as well as going beyond the nine or ten steps that were floating around three or more years ago.
> 
> This one focuses on anime fusions and will eventually contain eleven chapters. The title is a play on "Eleventh Hour".

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jadzia Dax's first day of teaching doesn't quite go the way her family or students expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the manga/anime/J-drama Gokusen.

Jadzia Dax walked out of Bajor High School with a faint frown marring her pretty features. She hadn’t expected a walk in the park, considering the school’s reputation as a home for delinquents, but she also hadn’t expected to have a student throw a pachinko ball at the back of her head. And the Vice Principal’s insistence on female teachers wearing tracksuits, of all things! “So you can run away,” she muttered under her breath, aiming for the annoying man’s patronizing tones. “Hmph. Like I’m going to be scared of a bunch of delinquent boys.”

 

She grumbled all through the bus ride back to Trill, only perking up as the locals started greeting her as she walked down the cramped streets that led home. “Young Miss!” Jadzia looked up, smiled at the fishmonger, moved over as he waved her towards his stand. “Would you like some fresh mackerel for your grandfather, Young Miss?”

 

Jadzia examined the fish, considered what she knew of the week’s planned menu. The fish would keep for breakfast, she decided. “Thank you, Edon,” Jadzia smiled at the fishmonger. “I’ll make sure to tell Kang so he’ll mark it down.”

 

“Thank you, Young Miss,” Edon said, touching two fingers to his brow in informal salute. “Have a good day.”

 

“You too, Edon!” Mackerel in hand, Jadzia continued further into the borough until, at last, the wall around her grandfather’s house came into view. She walked through the gate only to come up short when she saw all the men outside the house. Many of them weren’t from the Dax Family, and all of them were dressed nicely.

 

“Young Miss!” Kang called from the front porch. Immediately, the men in the courtyard bowed to her. Jadzia smiled and nodded as she made her way through the throng until she reached Kor. “Welcome home, Young Miss,” Kang grinned.

 

“Thanks, Kang, but… did I forget there was a meeting going on today?” Jadzia asked. She wouldn’t have been able to take off work, not on her first day, but she could have left the school earlier.

 

“Oh, no, Young Miss, they’re just here for the boss’s anniversary,” Kang said. “He has now been the Boss of the Dax Family for forty years.”

 

“Forty?” Jadzia repeated, eyes wide. She hadn’t realized it had been that long. And then, with a scowl, she poked Kor in the side. “You should have told me, Kang! Grandfather’s anniversary is an important date, and I don’t have anything to give him!”

 

A belly laugh interrupted her harangue of her grandfather’s Second, and Jadzia and Kang turned to face Curzon Dax and Martok of the House of Martok. “Your granddaughter has your fire, old man,” Martok said. He lifted the cup in his hand and announced, “To Jadzia Dax, the next Boss of the Dax Family!”

 

Those men who had drinks in hand echoed the toast while those who didn’t simply bowed again. Jadzia flushed with pleasure and smiled at her grandfather’s closest ally. “Thank you, Martok,” she said. “I am honored by your respect.”

 

Martok laughed and reached out, clapping her on the back hard enough to stagger her. Curzon watched, amused, as Martok turned back to face him. The two men clasped forearms, and then Martok waved at his men, departing from the Dax house. Several more men, all of them local leaders, emerged from the house, took their farewells of Curzon, and departed with their men, until only those who actually belonged to the Dax Family remained.

 

With their guests gone, Jadzia handed the mackerel to Kang, turned to the old man, crossed her arms over her chest, and said, disapprovingly, “You should have told me it was your fortieth anniversary, Grandfather.”

 

“Why? God’s sake, girl, you think I don’t know how much stress you already had, fretting yourself silly over your first day teaching?” Curzon demanded. “Besides, forty’s not too impressive. What’ll be _really_ impressive is if I make it to a fiftieth anniversary. That’s when you can fuss over me, and not a day sooner.”

 

Jadzia’s eyes narrowed dangerously but she didn’t argue. She had learned over her years in this house when and where to pick her battles. So she’d give the old man this one because sooner or later, she’d find something she wanted more, and that’s when she would put in the effort. “Well, if that’s how you’re going to be about it,” she said, as civilly as she could manage. She turned back to Kang. “The fish is a gift from Edon,” she said, then turned and walked into the house.

 

“Dinner’s in fifteen,” Kang called after her, and she waved a hand behind her to let him know she’d heard.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Jadzia had changed out of her ‘work’ clothes and into comfier sweats. Her hair was out of the tight braid she’d worn for school and ran freely down her back, and all of her teaching supplies were tucked away in her room – including the glasses she had decided to use to look more harmless. The family members had told her over and over again that her piercing stares could chill them to the bone, and she didn’t want to do that to her students. Not yet, at any rate. Give her a few more weeks, though…

 

She sat down at the table and sniffed appreciatively at the dinner offerings. “Smells good,” she told Nerys, because she remembered it had been her turn to cook.

 

“Thanks. It’s a new recipe, so we’ll see how it turned out, I guess,” the other woman said with a shrug.

 

As they dug in, Curzon asked, “How was your first day of school, Jadzia?”

 

Further down the table, Kang snickered. “Sounds just like he did the first day you went to middle school, doesn’t he?”

 

“It was all right,” Jadzia said, thinking back over her students. “Well, I mean, it’s a school for delinquents, so of course they tried to give me what they consider trouble, but it was really small fries compared to other things I’ve had to deal with. Once I’ve had them for a week or two, they won’t make the mistake of calling me a bitch again.”

 

“A bitch?” Nerys snarled, standing up. She walked over to the sword stand by the door, picked one up, and started walking towards the entrance.

 

“Kira,” Kang called. “They’re just kids.”

 

Nerys growled but put the sword back and sat back down.

 

“And I suppose the glasses and the tracksuit look a bit dorky –” Jadzia continued, only for Kor to stand up with a shouted, “They called you dorky?”

 

He stomped over to the swords and had just closed his hand around one when Kang said, “Just kids, Kor. Just stupid brats.”

 

Kor snarled but clumped back over to the table and plopped back into his chair like a child denied a treat. Jadzia shook her head with a smile, and finished, “But since I’m not ever going to be scared of their threats –”

 

“They threatened you?” Kang interrupted this time, erupting out of his seat. He stormed over to the swords, yanked one up, and then looked back at Kor, Koloth, and Nerys. “The hell are you three sitting around for? Let’s go!”

 

All three stood up immediately, Koloth and Kor with matching wicked grins while Nerys looked like an avenging angel. “Hey!” Jadzia yelled, freezing all four in their tracks. “Those are my students you’re threatening.”

 

“But they threatened you first,” Kang protested.

 

“And I’ll handle it in an appropriate manner,” Jadzia said. _And letting you four go scare the shit out of them – or worse – is so far from appropriate it’s not even funny anymore._ She watched them sit with a familiar blend of amusement, affection, and annoyance and shook her head.

 

_And those foolish boys who are now my students think they can scare me. I’d feel sorry for them, but, well, it’s really just too funny._


	2. Digimon: To the Digital World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miles just wanted to go to engineering camp. This crazy mess wouldn't have happened at an engineering camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the anime Digimon.

Miles O’Brien was bored. He hadn’t wanted to come to this camp – he’d argued long and hard with his parents about an engineering camp. Unfortunately, because he was only thirteen, his parents’ word had carried the day, and here he was at a ‘nature camp’ that he had absolutely no interest in. There weren’t even wrenches or anything interesting lying around!

 

The tent flap swung open and Benjamin Sisko stuck his head in. “Hey, Miles, come on outside! You’ve gotta see this – it’s _snowing!_ ”

 

“That’s highly unlikely seeing as it’s the middle of June,” Miles muttered, but he followed Ben outside into the bright sunlight – and the freezing cold snow. “Whoa.”

 

“Ben, catch!” a girl shouted, and a snowball came whizzing towards Ben. Rather than try to catch it, he dodged, and the snowball nailed Miles right in the chest.

 

“Oof!” Miles grunted, doubling over.

 

“Jadzia!”

 

“Well you weren’t supposed to dodge!”

 

Two pairs of hands landed on Miles’s arms, held him up. “Are you all right, Miles?” Ben asked.

 

Miles blinked rapidly but finally managed to focus on the two faces before his: Ben’s and a girl he’d seen playing soccer with the boys earlier. “I think so?”

 

“I’m so sorry,” the girl said. “Ben was supposed to catch it, not move out of the way so innocent bystanders would get hit.”

 

“Uhh…” Miles said uncertainly as Ben rounded on the girl.

 

“And just why was I supposed to try to catch a snowball, Jadzia?” Ben demanded. “As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone would try to catch a snowball that _you_ threw.”

 

“Why would you try to catch a snowball in the first place?” a red-haired girl asked with a ferocious frown.

 

“Look up there!” a dark-haired boy said, pointing towards the sky. Immediately, all seven kids in the area looked up. Several of them gasped.

 

“That’s impossible,” Miles said faintly as he stared up at the Aurora Borealis, visible across the California sky.

 

“Tell that to the snow,” the red-haired girl said.

 

As they all stared upwards, a glowing green vortex appeared in the middle of the Northern Lights. From it, seven round, glowing white balls with bright red tails shot out, one towards each of the kids standing there staring upwards. The ‘comets’ crash landed in front of the seven children, blowing the snow up, momentarily blinding Miles.

 

When the snow finally settled down, glowing lights rose out of the holes where the ‘comets’ had touched down. As they rose higher, the lights were revealed as glowing bubbles protecting some kind of strange technological-looking device. Ben reached out and grabbed the one in front of him, causing the light to die away.

 

When nothing happened to him, the red-haired girl and Jadzia both reached out to grab the ones in front of them. Encouraged when none of the trio cried out in pain or otherwise reacted negatively, Miles reached out, too, and saw the other three kids do the same, until all seven of them held one of the strange devices.

 

“What are these?” the dark-haired boy who had first spotted the Northern Lights asked. “I’ve never seen a gadget like this before, not even on TV.”

 

“I think we’ve got a bigger problem, Julian,” Jadzia said, gazing out in front of them. Miles looked up, confused at her serious tone, and froze, mouth open in shock.

 

A giant wave rose out of the earth and crashed down upon them, sweeping them all up before they could even attempt to run away, and Miles felt his consciousness being swept away along with his body.

 

It could have been moments later or it could have been hours, but the next thing Miles knew, there was something poking his arm. Distantly, he could hear an unfamiliar voice calling, “Miles! Miles, wake up!”

 

Groaning, he opened his eyes. An unfamiliar forest canopy greeted him. The colors seemed off, somehow – too saturated, and not quite the right shade. Before he could try to process it, the unfamiliar voice said, “Oh, good, you’re awake!”

 

Miles turned, expecting to see one of the other kids who had been at the camp with him. Instead, he found himself staring at a pink blob with eyes and a cat-like mouth. A mouth that was smiling at him. Miles screamed. The pink blob screamed back. Miles stopped screaming. The pink blob stopped screaming.

 

“Uhh…” Miles said. “Who are you, what are you, what are you doing here, where is here, and how do I get home?” It was a lot of questions, but he felt really lost and confused right now.

 

“My name is Motimon, Miles, and I am a digimon, or digital monster,” the pink blob said, smiling at him. “You are in the Digital World, my home, and I am here because I am your friend and we are meant to be partners.” It paused, counted on its fingers, and then said, “And I do not know how you get home. I am sorry, Miles.”

 

“Ah… It’s… okay?” Miles asked, trying to reassure the creature. “For right now, then, let’s find the others who came here with me.” After all, if he was here after that wave had swept him up, surely the other six were, too.

 

“Of course. I believe they are this way,” Motimon said.

 

As Miles followed the digimon deeper into the forest – or so he assumed, since they didn’t exit into a clearing or anything that wasn’t forest – he couldn’t help but think, _My parents are going to regret not sending me to that engineering camp._


	3. Yu Yu Hakusho: The Dark Tournament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben Sisko and his allies have been given two options: compete in and win the Dark Tournament, or see everyone they care about (and themselves) killed. On the night they're supposed to leave for the tournament, Sisko is running late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Yu Yu Hakusho.

“He’s late,” Miles O'Brien fretted, looking around at the hordes of demons milling around the dock. “Why is he late?”

 

“He’s always late, Miles,” Julian Bashir pointed out, leaning casually against a tree, hands in his pockets, completely at home despite the yells of ‘Traitor!’ that had greeted his arrival. “So long as he shows up before the boat leaves, we won’t have to hunt him down and kill him.” Miles spun to face the demon, eyes wide, and Julian smiled at him, bright and sunny. “Kidding, of course.”

 

“Right,” Miles muttered, not sure that he believed him at all. _If we have to be in this Dark Tournament, why is it with sketchy demons as allies?_

 

“I have a more pressing concern,” Garak said. He waited for both Julian and Miles to look over at him before he asked, “Do we have a fifth teammate?”

 

Miles’s mouth dropped open. He hadn’t even considered that! “Oops,” Julian murmured. “I take that to mean that you didn’t take care of that while I trained Miles?”

 

“It certainly is not my job to handle that sort of thing,” Garak retorted, hand over his chest, the picture of an insulted party. Miles had learned that the emotions Garak portrayed weren’t always the emotions he felt, but it was hard to remember that in the face of what could appear to be violent mood swings. He dropped the aggrieved pose and said, with a hint of a smile, “I suppose, if worst comes to worst, we can always kill four people in one of these other teams and press gang the surviving member.”

 

Familiar laughter behind them, and Miles spun, relieved to find Ben Sisko standing there. “Don’t go worrying the other teams, Garak,” Ben scolded. “Not when I went to the trouble of finding us a fifth teammate who can fight and actually wants to be on our side.” He stepped to the side to reveal a tall woman in martial arts garb, a bright smile on her face.

 

“Pleasure to meet all of you, my name is Jadzia Dax,” the brunette said with an easy grin.

 

“Like _Curzon_ Dax?” Miles asked, remembering the tournament where his psychic powers had blossomed from a sense for ghosts into true offensive power. “Ben’s martial arts master?”

 

“Precisely like,” Jadzia smiled, but offered no further explanation. “Looks like people are getting on the boat.” She turned to Ben. “I told you we’d be on time, Benjamin. When will you learn to trust me?”

 

“Soon enough, I’m sure,” Ben allowed with a grin. He turned to survey Miles and the two demons. “Shall we?” he asked, gesturing towards the horde of demons tromping onto the ferry.

 

“We shall indeed,” Julian smiled, straightening up.

 

Miles followed the other four onto the boat, staring hard at the back of Ben’s head. There was something different about him, something that hadn’t been there before the other teen disappeared to train with Master Dax – and, presumably, Jadzia. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on what.

 

He puzzled over it as the boat pushed off from shore, staring as Ben sat down, rested his back against the railing, and, to all appearances, fell asleep. Miles didn’t think _he_ would’ve been able to sleep, considering the hostility radiating from everyone else on the ship – including the captain. And Miles had never been able to relax when he felt eyes on him, never knowing for sure one way or the other whether the eyes belonged to a ghost that could physically attack him or not. But that was Ben Sisko for you, confident to the point of brashness, completely assured that he could handle himself in any situation. Sometimes Miles wished he could be more like Ben.

 

A loud screech had him and everyone else on the boat wincing before the captain’s voice came over a loudspeaker. “All right, you miserable-looking demons, we’ve got a bit of something planned for entertainment. Beginning right now, we’re going to hold the preliminary tournament.”

 

“Prelims?” Miles repeated, frowning. “No one said there was a try out. And, well, we were invited. Doesn’t that mean we don’t have to participate in this?”

 

“I doubt that very much,” Julian said with a slight frown. “After all, we have to prove ourselves worthy of the invite, do we not?” There was a twist to his mouth that might have been a smile, but it was a particularly poor attempt at one.

 

Before anyone could respond, the boat shuddered, and the middle of the deck began to split in two, allowing for a huge circular platform – an arena, Miles realized – to slowly rise into the air, four sets of steps winding down from it to the main level, one connected to each side.

 

“This is where you will fight,” the captain continued over the mutterings of the demon passengers. “As it happens, fifteen of the sixteen slots for the Dark Tournament have already been taken. So only one team on this boat will be able to participate.”

 

The mutterings turned rather angry at this point, but the captain continued inexorably, “Choose who you think to be the strongest member of your team and send them up to the ring for a Battle Royale. The team of the last one standing wins the final slot.”

 

“So who should go up for us?” Miles asked. “If we’re talking strongest, that’s Ben…” He turned to face his friend, only to find Ben was still sleeping. “Ben? Ben, wake up!” He went over, shook him a bit, and got nothing.  _I don't want to fight!_   He didn't want to fight in the Dark Tournament period, but he didn't have a choice there, not if he wanted Keiko and his parents to be all right, to say nothing of Kassidy, Ben, Ben's father, and himself.  But to have to fight now, before he was fully prepared... _I'll do it if I must._

 

“Let him be, Miles,” Jadzia said, placing a hand on his arm to stop him. “Benjamin went through some very intense training to prepare for this tournament, and needs his rest in order to recover fully. I will go in his place, since I’m the one who has to prove myself to the rest of you.” She started walking towards the nearest staircase without waiting for any of the boys to respond.

 

“How very interesting,” Garak purred. “I must admit that I am looking forward to seeing precisely what sort of teammate Sisko has brought us.”

 

“But what do we do if she loses?” Miles asked. “If we get knocked out…”  The consequences didn't bear thinking about.

 

“If she loses, all we have to do is kill everyone else on this boat,” Garak smirked. “No one can complain, then.”

 

“Your personality… hasn’t changed at all since we met, has it?” Miles muttered, shivering as he looked away from the demon and back towards Jadzia and the ring.

 

It wasn’t too long before all the contestants were gathered and the captain roared, “Begin!”

 

Immediately, all of the other demons rushed Jadzia. She smiled, pulled her fist back as a blue glow covered it, and then started punching. To Miles’s surprise, he recognized the attack – Ben’s Shotgun Punch, with the fist moving almost too fast to see, each punch releasing a blast of energy that knocked her opponents into the ocean. It was all over in five seconds.

 

Jadzia straightened out of her crouch and started walking back down the stairs, smug smile on her face.

 

“Well, at least now we know she’s here as more than just a pretty face,” Julian chirped, smirking at Garak.

 

The other demon rolled his eyes. “If she is related to Curzon then of course she would know how to fight,” Garak grumbled. “I simply wanted to see if she was any good as a fighter.”

 

“Of course, Garak,” Julian agreed with a smile as smug as Jadzia’s.

 

The captain announced, “It’s been decided that the sixteenth and final team competing in the Dark Tournament is the Sisko Team!” He didn’t sound or look particularly happy with that fact.

 

Unfortunately, neither was anyone else on the boat besides the team in question. “If that’s how it’s gonna be, then screw the rules! Kill them all, and whoever’s left alive is the team going on!” someone roared, and then the boat’s deck became a madhouse of fighting.

 

Miles summoned his spirit sword and began cutting away, slicing and spearing enemies, knocking them out or overboard. The others, he saw when he had moments to spare, did the same, easily dispatching of the demons on the boat. _I wonder if the other demons at the Dark Tournament will be this weak?_ Dukat and his team certainly wouldn’t be, but if that was their strongest foe, they might actually manage this.

 

Commotion by Ben drew his attention, and he saw a demon about to slice Ben’s throat. “Ben!” he screamed, but then Ben shot up and punched the demon into the far railing.

 

“Come and get me, Old Man!” Ben roared, fists flying every which way, never mind the fact that no other demons threatened him. Just as abruptly, Ben slumped back down to the ground and began snoring. It was then that Miles realized his friend’s eyes had been closed the entire time.

 

“He can fight in his sleep now?” Miles asked, disbelieving.

 

“Apparently his training was more intense than expected,” Julian said, looking impressed. “Well, that’s all nice and settled. Shall we enjoy the rest of the ride to the Tournament grounds?”


	4. Saiyuki: Gather Your Companions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julian Bashir just wants a nice, quiet night at home with his roommate. Too bad the weather and his guests are conspiring against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the anime Saiyuki (Journey to the West).

Julian Bashir nudged the door of his closed, shook his head to try and dry it – only to come up short. His housemate hadn’t lit any of the lamps. “Garak?” he called. No response. Worried now, Julian put the groceries down and walked further into the house, slowly, _chi_ tingling at the tips of his fingers.

 

Nothing jumped out at him as out of place, but he kept to a cautious pace, checking every room, every cranny, every hidey-hole, in case something waited to jump out at him. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Finally, he reached the sitting room. Julian let the _chi_ build as he inched into the room.

 

A tall figure sat on the ratted couch, staring out the window at the rain – _oh, shit, the rain! No wonder he didn’t answer._

 

Julian let the _chi_ fade away and crept out of the room, back to the entryway and the abandoned groceries. He carried the bags into the kitchen and began putting things away as quietly as possible, save for what he would need for that night’s meal. A soup, something easily reheated, and not something Garak would have to think about eating.

 

Not something Julian would have to think about cooking, for that matter.

 

It had been two years since Garak had entered his life, two years since Priest Kira Nerys had declared the man Garak had been dead, replaced by a new man who would work to make up for the sins he had done in his past. Julian still didn’t know a lot about Garak or about who he had once been, but he knew about the rain.

 

More specifically, he knew that the rain brought up bad memories for Garak, memories of the day when he had slaughtered one hundred demons and become what he most hated. So really, Julian didn’t blame Garak for simply sitting in the dark, something the other man had probably been doing since the rain started shortly after Julian arrived at the clinic that morning.

 

Julian let his mind drift as he stirred veggies and meat into the boiling stock, trying not to let his thoughts snag on anything in particular. Nothing dangerous, at least. Far better to consider whether Morn would be back in a few days with a different injury or wonder which of Quark’s girls would be the next to need something for a disease, to ponder if Mr. Sisko would remember to take the pain-killers or to think back over what supplies he’d noticed the clinic was running low on.

 

Almost before he realized it, the soup was done and Julian pulled the pot off the stove and put out the burner. He ladled out a bowlful for himself and ate standing up in the kitchen, the better to not disturb Garak. Unless Garak wanted to be disturbed?

 

Julian shook his head at the thought. Garak was a convivial companion most of the time, but he had his flashes of temper, and Julian had learned that prodding Garak often simply lead to his friend regretting what he said or did, leaving more scabs on his heart. So he left Garak alone in the dark and his dinner –

 

A sharp rapping at the door. Julian sighed but put down his mostly empty bowl. Probably someone looking for his help with another injury. A doctor’s hours were never over in a small town like this.

 

Louder knocking. Julian grimaced and moved faster, but the knocking picked up speed, and now he heard words along with it – “Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.”

 

The voice was, unfortunately, obnoxiously familiar. Julian paused to take a bracing breath and then opened the door to find Lwaxana Troi’s bright grin beaming up at him. “Well there you are!” the young demon said. “I was starting to wonder if we’d have to break in. Ooo, something smells good!”

 

She brushed past him towards the kitchen, and Julian turned a flat look on Priest Kira Nerys. “Really, Kira? She’ll eat me out of house and home.”

 

“Right now, it’s better you than me,” Kira snapped, also shoving into the house.

 

Julian sighed, and said, “Kira.” She turned to look at him. “Now’s really not a good time –”

 

“Tough shit,” the priestess replied. She paused, took a good look at him, and said, a bit gentler, “I wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t important, Julian.”

 

Julian looked at her – _really_ looked, and saw the signs of exhaustion. He reached back and shut the door. “Better hurry to the kitchen, then, before the little monster consumes all of the soup.”

 

Julian let Kira lead the way to the kitchen, where he could hear the sounds of Lwaxana moving about, probably sticking her nose into everything and looking for more food than just the soup. Julian winced at the thought of her finding the pears he had bought special, and mentally wrote them off as a loss. Whatever else she was, Lwaxana was a phenomenal food detector. Especially when it came to food you didn’t want her to find.

 

So Julian wasn’t surprised to find her munching down on a pear, a second in her hand. He _was_ surprised to find Garak had emerged from his trance or whatever it was. And he’d arrived in time to get some soup. Probably because Lwaxana had been distracted by the pears.

 

Garak looked up and over at Julian and Kira as they entered and smiled, no trace of sorrow, grief, or rage present on his features. “Hello, Priestess. I saved you a bowl of soup.”

 

“Good,” Kira grumbled, stomping over to the counter and starting to eat her soup rather angrily.

 

Julian looked for his bowl and almost sighed when he saw it sitting empty beside Lwaxana. Speaking of. “Lwaxana, countertops are not for sitting on. That’s where I _prepare_ the food.”

 

She blinked at him. “So?”

 

_Count to ten before you say something that’ll start a fight._ When he thought he had some semblance of control over his voice, Julian explained, “The countertop needs to stay clean so the food doesn’t become infected with germs. Your butt has probably been in a tree today, picking up all sorts of fun things that aren’t good for people to consume. So please, get down.”

 

“Okay,” Lwaxana agreed. “Only because you actually have a good reason, though. If it had been a stupid reason, like ‘it’s improper’, I would have stayed up there.”

 

“Good to know,” Julian said faintly. He wandered over to the pot he’d boiled the soup in. Empty, of course. At least Garak had gotten a bowl. And Kira, he supposed, although she’d brought the menace, so he wasn’t feeling too charitable right now, never mind how much it looked like she’d been overworking herself.

 

He hoisted the pot into the sink and started filling it with water.

 

“I can get that later, my dear,” Garak protested, but Julian shook his head and said, “I’ve got it now, Garak. Eat up, okay?” He very carefully did not add _since you probably haven’t eaten anything for most of the day, considering the rain._

 

As he scrubbed at the pot, he asked, “You mentioned this wasn’t a social call?”

 

“That’s right,” Kira said. He thought he heard her put her spoon down, but didn’t turn around to check. “Are you two aware of what’s been happening to the _youkai_?”

 

Julian turned away from the pot. “You know why we – why they’re suddenly going mad?” He hadn’t had to put down anyone, not yet, but he’d cleaned up after the carnage left in the wake of formerly peaceful neighbors suddenly going berserk.

 

Kira straightened, regal in the robes and crown of her rank, and proclaimed, “I am going to the west, to Shangri-La, to put a stop to the madness. With or without any and all of you.”


	5. G Gundam: Gundam Orchid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miles O'Brien might be 'just' the engineer for Gundam Orchid, but he is as invested in the gundam and its success as the pilot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with G-Gundam.
> 
> A later entry to the larger Gundam franchise, this one features a world where colonies (neo-[country name) fight every four years over which of them will rule the others and the planet Earth. The gundam battles take place on Earth after each colony selects its representative. Different countries have different ways of picking their pilots.

Miles O’Brien stepped out of Gundam Orchid’s cockpit and rode the lift back down to ground level.  He kissed the cheek of the black-haired woman waiting for him.  “Good as new, love,” he promised his wife.

 

“Thanks, Miles,” Keiko O’Brien smiled back at him.  “And faster than you thought you’d manage, too.”

 

He flushed a bit at the hint of tease in her voice.  “Guess I always keep underestimating how easy a fix she is,” he shrugged.

 

“Or,” Keiko said, arms crossed over her chest, “you keep underestimating how good a mechanic you are.”

 

“S’pose it could be a little of both,” Miles allowed, grinning at his wife’s exasperation.  He hefted his toolbox and asked, “You gonna take her for a spin now or wait for morning?”

 

Keiko looked up at her gundam with a considering expression.  After a few moments she turned back to Miles.  “I think I’ll wait until morning.  It’s not like we don’t still have two weeks until the trials.”  She linked her arm with his and they left the gundam garage for the main part of their house.

 

“You nervous?” Miles asked.  He certainly was.  And the closer they got to the go day, the less certain he became that he wanted Keiko to win the right to represent Neo-Great Britain in the Twenty-First Gundam Fight.  People didn’t tend to die in the trials.  At least, not in Neo-Great Britain.  But during the Gundam Fight itself… Accidents could happen, and some people entered with vendettas of their own.  Why, just look at what had happened twenty-four years ago, during the Fifteenth Fight!

 

“A bit,” Keiko said, drawing Miles’s attention back to the present.  “But, in the end, the best person to represent Neo-Great Britain will be chosen.  I can only work hard and hope that I’m good enough to be that person.”

 

“I know you are,” Miles said instantly.  “But, Keiko…” He paused, uncertain how to phrase his request.

 

“What is it, Miles?” Keiko asked.  She turned so they faced each other, expressive face creased with concern.

 

“Just… Be careful?  Not just at the trials, but during the fight itself,” he clarified.  “I… I don’t know what I’d do, if something happened to you…”

 

Keiko smiled at him, and the hand that wasn’t resting on his arm came up to cup his face.  “You know I’ll be careful, Miles,” she promised.  “If it’s a choice between dying and surrender, I’ll pick surrender.  These fights… They’re important because of how different countries and different rulers govern, but they’re not worth my life.  I know that, I promise.”  She leaned in and kissed him, then pulled away.

 

“Now go wash up before dinner gets cold,” Keiko ordered.

 

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am,” Miles said with a joking salute as she slipped her arm out of his.  As he put his toolbox down, he realized that dinner was still hot.  She really had known exactly how much time he would need to fix the damage training had caused to Gundam Orchid.  Miles smiled to himself.  If she studied her opponents and fought smart, Keiko had a pretty good chance after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short because I didn't have a lot to write for this one. Sorry to anyone disappointed by that.


	6. Outlaw Star: Odo and The Defiant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odo still isn't sure how he fits in with the Defiant's new owners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Outlaw Star.

Odo stepped out of the _Defiant’s_ cylindrical navigational chamber, the stabilizing liquid dripping down his bare chest, and reached for the towels Sisko had left for him.  He dried off and pulled his clothes back on, unsure whether he was relieved to be clothed again or disappointed to have temporarily closed down his connection to the _Defiant_.

 

“I thought androids were supposed to stay out of liquid.”

 

Odo turned and blinked at Kira Nerys, Sisko’s business partner from before they had acquired the _Defiant_ and, with it, Odo himself.  “Perhaps other androids,” Odo said.  “I was created a bit differently, clearly.  Besides, I was meant to be submerged in the stabilizing agent to assist with my connection to the _Defiant_.  It would be a poor design if the liquid I must be encased in damaged my systems.”

 

“True enough.  Come on; Ben thinks he’s got a new lead on where we can start looking for the Leyline.”

 

As Odo followed Kira out of the _Defiant_ , he asked, “I thought I was expected to find the Galactic Leyline, together with the _Defiant._ ”

 

“Supposedly,” Kira agreed, not slowing her pace, not looking back at him, “but you haven’t exactly been much help with that recently.”

 

That sounded like a criticism.  Stung, Odo was quick to reply, “If any of us knew how I was meant to function, that wouldn’t be a problem now would it?”

 

Kira looked over at her shoulder at him and then actually smiled.  “Fair enough, Odo.”  She slowed her pace so he could walk alongside her towards the small building with the sign ‘Sisko and Kira Shipping Enterprises’.

 

“Your business has been suffering since you acquired me,” Odo said.

 

Kira stopped, turned to face him.  “What does that have to do with anything?”

 

Odo fumbled for words, wishing not for the first time that whoever had created him had gifted him with a better grasp of social skills.  Finally, he settled on, “I meant merely to offer my apologies for the way I have upended your life and that of Sisko’s.”

 

She stared at him for a bit longer and then shrugged.  “Don’t worry too much about it,” she said.  “We’ll be fine, especially once we find the Leyline and the treasure that’s supposed to be there.  That’ll more than make up for any loss we’re taking looking for it.”

 

“I suppose that’s true enough,” Odo said, a bit doubtfully.  “Still, that doesn’t make up for being broke in the here and now –”

 

“We’re fine, Odo,” Kira interrupted, but she softened it by reaching out and gripping his shoulder, squeezing it gently.  “Don’t take that on yourself when there’s plenty of other things you can take the blame for if you really want.”

 

Odo slowly smiled back, and never mind how strange the expression felt on his face.  He liked it, he decided.  Hopefully it would grace his face more often as he grew more accustomed to Kira and Sisko.  “Thank you, Kira.”

 

“You can call me Nerys, Odo,” she said.  “We’re partners now, right?  Same as me and Ben or you and Ben.”

 

“All right… Nerys.”  As Odo followed her into the store, he found himself smiling once more.


	7. Sword Art Online: Tailor and the Lieutenant-Commander

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sword Art Online was supposed to be a new kind of MMORPG. A virtual reality, total immersive game accessed by the new technology called NerveGear. An RPG without magic. An RPG with 100 floors, where each floor is unique, with different challenges, quests, safe zones to explore, monsters to fight, and more. An RPG where you can see, feel, hear, smell, and taste everything.
> 
> It's a new kind of MMORPG, all right, as the first ten thousand players found out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the manga/anime Sword Art Online.

One year.  Ten thousand people had been trapped in the virtual reality MMORPG Sword Art Online for one year.

 

No, not ten thousand, Elim Garak reminded himself.  They were down to only about five thousand now after two months in a game without revivals, without magic of any kind other than healing items, where the only thing you could depend on were your sword skills.

 

Oh, and that the game and its mad creator were out to kill you, but that was a given.

 

Five thousand or so dead, but they had made it to Floor Fifty.  Farther than any beta tester had managed.  Slower than Elim had thought it would take him.  But then, he only had the one life.

 

 _I suppose I should be grateful that I live alone so no one removed the NerveGear and fried my brain._   Something that certainly would have happened had he still lived at home, even after the news started reporting on what happened to people who had that happen.  His father would have loved to have a guaranteed way to get rid of him without anyone knowing it was no accident.

 

He let his eyes flicker open just in time to see a shadow cross his face.

 

“So this is where you’ve gotten to, Tailor.”

 

Elim smiled complacently up at the other player.  It was so much fun to push Julian’s buttons.  “Hello, Lieutenant-Commander.”

 

“Don’t call me that, Tailor,” Julian said, blowing air out in annoyance.  “You know my name – you were the first player to learn it.  So use it.  Please.”

 

“Hmm?  Wouldn’t your minions – and superiors, for that matter – see that as rude?  I mean, I’m just a solo player and you’re one of the five top-ranked players in the most powerful guild,” Elim drawled.  Not for the first time, he regretted the loss of his chosen avatar look.  Not just because he’d chosen to play as a nonhuman but because he’d chosen a race that would be hard for others to read.  Ah well.  He still knew how to conceal his true emotions well enough –

 

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or having a private laugh at me again,” Julian complained.

 

 _Case in point._   “I assure you, my dear Lieutenant-Commander, that I am being completely and totally serious.  I mean, really, take liberties with a lieutenant-commander of the Federation Guild?  I can only imagine what your devoted minions would do to me.”

 

Julian sighed and ran a hand through short curls before folding his arms over his chest.  “If you’re done snickering to yourself at my expense, there’s a strategy meeting for clearing the Fifty-First in an hour over at Floor Forty-Three.”

 

“Oh?”  Elim sat up, attention caught.  “Your Guild is still running the assault, then?  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, considering all of the floor-clearing demons in it.”

 

To Elim’s delight, Julian’s warm brown skin actually turned a bit pink along his cheeks.  “I really wish people would stop calling us that.  We’re not anything special, we’re just trying to get home – well, and take everyone along with us, but I think that’s a given at this point, among the guilds on the, ah, ‘front lines’.”

 

Elim’s eyes narrowed.  “You hate that it’s a war, Julian?  And yet you’ve been with a guild for months, on the front lines practically since you signed up with the Federation, and without much of any breaks as far as I can tell.  Why is that?”

 

Julian’s flush deepened and then faded.  “Because it’s the right thing to do, because I want to go home, because…”  He looked away.

 

“You can tell me,” Elim offered, taking care to keep his voice light, soothing.  Another clue to the complications that made up the other man.  He could barely restrain his excitement.  _Patience, or he’ll spook._   And so Elim said nothing else, simply kept his eyes on the other man, waiting.

 

Julian turned back to look at him and slowly sank down to the ground so he sat across from Elim.  Their eyes met.

 

Softly, barely loud enough to hear, Julian whispered, “Because I don’t want them to win.  The game and Anton Karidian.  I… I couldn’t bear it, to let them destroy ‘me’ by making me sit back, protected, rotting away from the inside out.  I need to be doing something.  And I can’t be a healer in this game – not when the only healing comes from items.  So I have to fight to clear the game, knowing it might kill me, because otherwise… Just surviving… that’s not enough for me.”

 

Julian’s cheeks flushed again and he looked down at the grass.  “You probably think that’s stupid, considering everything else you’ve said this past year, so I’ll thank you to not comment on this.”  He braced himself, started to stand –

 

And Elim’s hand reached out to wrap around his closer wrist, startling Julian enough that he paused and gave him a sideways glance.

 

“You humble me, my dear,” Elim murmured, even quieter than Julian’s words had been.  He released the other man’s wrist and pushed himself to his feet then reached down to help Julian up.  “Shall we head to Federation Headquarters?”

 

Julian took a moment more to compose his features, Elim assumed, before he reached up and accepted Elim’s hand, allowing Elim to help him to his feet.  “That’s not what the Forty-Third Floor is called, Tailor,” Julian sighed.

 

“As you say,” Elim agreed amiably, allowing Julian to walk a ways ahead of him.  He counted in his head to three and then added, “Lieutenant-Commander,” in the sweetest voice he could.

 

Julian’s shoulders twitched and Elim permitted himself a small, secretive little smile as they continued on towards Floor Forty-Three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate tech week. Don't be surprised if more chapters are late this week.


	8. Skip Beat: Branching Roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garak's been getting some job offers since his performance in the hit drama Dark Moon - but they're all the same. How is he to become a major star if he can't try out different roles?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Skip Beat.  
> Age swap AU for fun.

Tora Ziyal hadn’t been certain what to make of the offer Benjamin Sisko, president of Deep Talent Nine, had made her, but she had wanted to act and she had wanted DTN to be her agency, so she really hadn’t had much choice.

 

If she had known what the uniform would be, she might have given it more thought.

 

Bright, eye-searing pink jumpsuits with the Love Me Division logo writ small on the front left breast and writ way too big on the entirety of the back.

 

Ziyal hated it.  Although she didn’t hate it as much as the only other member of the division, Elim Garak, the division’s first member and a man with a killer sense of fashion.  When he wasn’t forced into a neon pink monstrosity, at least.

 

Speaking of her fellow division member.

 

Ziyal walked over to the small table in the LMD’s office and sat down across from Garak.  “What are you frowning over, Garak?”  It looked like a pile of folders.  Had he been given multiple job offers?  It wouldn’t surprise Ziyal – Garak had gotten a lot of exposure for his antagonistic role in the incredibly popular Dark Moon, a reboot of an older show.

 

“They’re all the same,” Garak said dismissively, flipping the top folder closed and sliding the pile across the table to her, tacit permission to look.

 

She speared him with a cautious look.  Garak’s black moods were nothing to laugh at.  She would swear he had caused property damage when truly furious, but maybe not in an actual court of law.  There was, after all, no proof that he had touched anything, never mind that the holes in the walls had appeared when his eyes flared with rage.  Ziyal didn’t believe in magic, but when it came to Garak…

 

Better safe than sorry.  Which meant assume he could do it until and unless proven otherwise.

 

Ziyal looked down at the three folders and read through them fairly quickly.  “They’re all bullies,” she said, because he seemed to be waiting for her to say something.

 

“Precisely!” Garak snapped.  “How am I supposed to become a good actor if I can’t try out multiple roles?  If all I play is the exact same role – especially that of a bully – nothing at all will change!”

 

“That’s an interesting theory.”

 

Ziyal jumped.  Garak tensed.  Both of them turned sideways to face the open door.  And Julian Bashir, one of DTN’s top stars, lounging against the doorway, arms folded over his chest.  His expression was serene, but Ziyal could read tension in the lines of his body, never mind the casual pose.

 

“Mr. Bashir,” she started, and he smiled at her.  The words froze in her throat.  _That.  Is not a happy smile._

 

“Although me, as someone who has been in this business for a not inconsiderable amount of time, to offer a slightly different interpretation of your prospects, Garak.”  He turned the smile on Garak, who stayed seated, mouth shut, despite the way Ziyal could feel him vibrating with the need to respond.

 

Bashir straightened, walked properly into the room, and pulled the door shut behind him.  “You say all of the roles are the same.”  He strode over to Ziyal’s side of the table and picked up one folder.  “School bully because he’s bored.”  He put it down, picked up the next one.  “School bully because he’s bullied by older siblings.”  Place down, pick up third.  “School bully because he’s teased by other students.”  Place folder down, stare meaningfully at Garak.

 

“They all bully for different reasons, however slight those differences may be.  And the reasons are different from the reasons Yuri was a bully in Dark Moon.  Further, I might only have skimmed the roles, but I’m sure they bully in different ways.”

 

He was right, Ziyal knew, but she said nothing because, well, because Garak was her friend and her fellow division member, suffering under the same pink curse.

 

“So you see, they might all be bullies, but they cannot all be the _same_ bully.  If you try, if the only bully you can produce is Yuri, then you can’t call yourself an actor,” Bashir added, his eyes on Garak.  So he, just like Ziyal, saw the way Garak stiffened, clearly stung by the hidden accusation.

 

Ziyal opened her mouth to defend Garak but Bashir continued on, apparently not finished wounding him.  “If, however, you can manage to make four different, unique bullies… Well, I suspect you’ll start getting different job offers.  After all, you’ll have proven yourself then.  You won’t just be a new talent who’s proven they can do one thing.”  Bashir shrugged.  “I guess we’ll see.”

 

Without another word, the older actor spun pushed away from the table and left the office, leaving the door open behind him.

 

Once she was sure he was gone, Ziyal turned back to Garak.  “Are you all right?  He shouldn’t have said those things –”

 

“Yes, Ziyal, I think he should have,” Garak interrupted, sounding thoughtful.  “Not that I don’t appreciate your impassioned defense, but… I fear he’s right.  _He’s_ clearly doing something right, after all.”  He looked over at the folders, then stood.  He reached out and scooped all three up.  “If you’ll excuse me, I suppose I have to go and speak with our esteemed division head.  I wonder how long I can juggle a three-shoot schedule without a manager?”

 

Ziyal watched him leave, torn.  As much as she wanted to be furious with Bashir’s words and the way he had wounded Garak, it was clear that Garak felt as if he’d been done a favor and that he had brushed off any injuries he’d taken from Bashir’s words by the time the man was out the door.  That didn’t mean she had to like Bashir’s methods, but she would keep that in mind, too.  She was an actor, after all.  You never knew what you might need to dig up for a role.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second and final chapter this week due to tech week. Back to usual MWF schedule next week.


	9. Magic Knight Rayearth: The Adventure Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three school classes took field trips to the Empire State Building. One student from each class was then mysteriously sucked into a bright white light which stranded them in the mystical world of Cephiro where a mysterious man tells them that they are the legendary Magic Knights!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Magic Knight Rayearth.

It had all seemed like a video game at first, but now… Jadzia was starting to wonder if maybe she hadn’t been taking things seriously enough.  She’d had her bit of fun, but now that she’d seen Nerys actually use fire magic against that witch who had been chasing them, seen the way the witch had seriously tried to _kill_ them with those ice spears, she was starting to think it was less of a game and more of a nightmare.

 

Except pinching herself didn’t wake them up, and falling hadn’t woken them up.  No, they were stuck here, on this strange world, this ‘Cephiro’, with its gigantic ocean, tall volcano, and floating castle high in the sky.  At least, they were stuck until they saved the princess from her kidnapper.  That much, at least, made sense.  A traditional fairy tale.  But Jadzia couldn’t help but think that ‘Guru Miles’ hadn’t told them everything he knew.  Even before the witch’s arrival had interrupted his explanation, he had clearly hesitated several times during his tale of why only three people not of this world could save it.

 

If this world truly had been the video game it first appeared, Jadzia wouldn’t have thought twice about how only ‘the chosen people from another land’ could do it.  But why couldn’t the people here defeat this evil high priest?  Why couldn’t they awaken these ‘Rune Gods’ that were apparently so vital to his defeat?  More questions than answers, but hopefully this ‘Lwaxana’ the Guru had told them to seek out would be able to tell them more.

 

“Jadzia?”

 

She turned slightly, smiled.  “Sorry, Keiko.  Just…thinking.”

 

“Anything you feel like sharing?” Nerys asked, arms folded over her chest.  She seemed to be recovering from the exhaustion her use of magic had caused, her eyes more alert and her back straightening where she sat on the griffon.

 

Jadzia shrugged.  “I was just thinking that we don’t have enough information, and since you’re the only one Guru Miles had time to instruct in the ways of magic, we’ll be in trouble if we run into anymore problems before we reach this ‘Lwaxana’.”

 

“Well, those are some cheery thoughts,” Keiko muttered.  She brushed straight black hair out of her face and said, a bit louder, “Guru Miles said Lwaxana would give us weapons, so at least we’ll be able to defend ourselves.  That is, if you two know how to use weapons?”

 

“I’m a practitioner of _kendo_ ,” Nerys said.

 

“And I’m on my school’s fencing team,” Jadzia added.  “What about you, Keiko?”

 

“I take archery lessons.  It’s good that we can all defend ourselves, at least once we get these weapons.”

 

“I wonder if that factored into us being chosen?” Jadzia asked.  “To be the Magic Knights.  I mean, there were three schools’ worth of students in the Empire State Building.  And yet, out of all those teenagers plus all of the adults there, it was the three of us.”

 

“I would think an affinity for magic would also be important,” Nerys mused.  “Unless everyone who is brought to this world can use magic.”

 

“There are too many things we don’t know,” Keiko said with a shrug, “and thinking about things like that isn’t helpful right now.  We should focus on getting weapons, learning magic, and rescuing Princess Sarina without dying.  Otherwise we’ll never go home – Guru Miles said she’s the only one who can send us back, after all.”

 

“You’re not interested in this place?” Jadzia asked, genuinely surprised.  “Or why we were chosen?”  _Or anything at all other than going home?_

 

“I don’t think it matters _why_ we were chosen,” Keiko shrugged.  “It could even have been happenstance.  The important thing is to give what help we can as best and as fast as we can.  That means getting the weapons, learning magic, and training, in all likelihood, before we face this high priest.”

 

“I hate to interrupt this fascinating discussion of priorities,” Nerys interrupted, “but the griffon seems to be heading for that house down there.”

 

Jadzia and Keiko both turned to watch as a fairly decent-sized house came into view, partially obscured by the forest surrounding it.  “I really hope that’s where we’ll find this Lwaxana person,” Jadzia murmured.

 

“Only one way to find out,” Nerys replied.  As the griffon landed, she slid easily down it’s back, landing fairly gracefully for someone who had been half-way to falling asleep not even an hour ago.

 

“You seem to be recovering from your use of magic,” Jadzia observed as she, too, slid down the griffon’s side, Keiko a beat behind her.

 

“Yeah,” Nerys nodded.  “I was a bit tired earlier, but it doesn’t seem to take too much out of me.  I still hope it’ll get easier as we go or we’ll have a hard time defeating a high priest who probably has a lot of spells at his disposal.”

 

Keiko’s gasp had the other two turning to face her – and the conspicuously empty space that had just held a griffon.  “It just disappeared,” Keiko said, “in a puff of smoke.”

 

“Well, Guru Miles _did_ say something like ‘Summon Creature’ when he called for it,” Jadzia pointed out.  “I suppose it makes sense that such a creature would disappear in such a way after it’s done its job.”

 

“I’m just glad it didn’t disappear in mid-air,” Nerys grumbled.  She turned back to the building.  “Let’s go try the door.”

 

Together, the three Magic Knights stepped forward, ready for the next step on their journey.


	10. Vampire Game: To Kill a King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One hundred years ago, King Phelios defeated the evil Vampire King Elim in combat by sacrificing his own life to fuel the spell La Gamme. However, before the spell killed him, Elim vowed that in one hundred years, they would both reincarnate and he would kill Phelios's reincarnation as painfully as he could.  
> Unfortunately for the vampire king, his reincarnated form is cute, fluffy, and adopted by Phelios's descendant, King Julian. What's a vampire to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Vampire Game.  
> Honestly, this is pure silliness and self-indulgence of a manga I quite liked when I was a teenager.
> 
> Kyawl - a small, fluffy cat-like creature with a great mane of fur; babies are about the size of house cats, although full-grown ones are closer to the size of a tiger or lion

Julian smiled gently until the bedroom door closed behind Captain Benjamin, and then the smile dropped from his face.  He sighed and leaned back in the chair, glanced over at the kyawl kitten sitting on the table, staring down at the saucer of milk.

 

“I’m not sure how well we fooled him,” the young king admitted.  “Benjamin is more intelligent than most guards – it’s one of the reasons he’s my primary guard.  So we’ll have to be careful, at least until we can come up with a better story.  Next time, make it easier on me and don’t take on my shape, okay, Elim?”

 

The kyawl jumped to the ground and shifted, once again taking on a human form – and, once again, it was Julian’s own form, despite what he had just said.  “I thought it would be the easiest way to find Phelios’s reincarnation,” Elim replied without a hint of apology.  “If I had known how skilled that magician is, I might have tried something else.”

 

“Something else like asking me from the beginning?” Julian suggested, trying not to focus too hard on the fact that he was essentially scolding himself.  In looks, at least.  Certainly not in personality.

 

“I didn’t expect you to get behind and push if I admitted that I was the Vampire King Elim, seeking the reincarnation of your great-grandfather so that I could murder him in retribution for that murder-suicide spell of his,” Elim countered.

 

“Well, when you put it like that, I suppose most people wouldn’t, what was that phrase?  Oh, yes: get behind and push,” Julian drawled, although he couldn’t help the hint of a smile.  “But you determined it’s not me when we first met – that’s right, Elim, don’t think I’ve forgotten about you biting me.  And, since it’s _not_ me, why should I care if it turns out to be one of my other relatives?  You’ll kill someone who’s scheming to kill or marry me for my throne.  Why should that bother me after all of the attempts they’ve made on _my_ life?”

 

“You are a very strange human, especially considering your lineage,” Elim said.

 

It was odd to see a look of suspicion on his own features directed at himself, but Julian got the feeling that life with Elim in it was going to get even weirder before too much longer.  Ah, well.  His life had never been what most people would call normal, anyways.  “You should go back to kitty shape, Elim.  There will be servants in here at any moment to help pack for our trip to La Naan.”

 

Elim stared at him for a few moments longer before he shook his head.  “To think I would get such help in trying to find Phelios’s reincarnation.  You truly are a strange human.”  He shrank back down into the kyawl form, and Julian lifted him back onto the table, close enough to the saucer of milk and bits of fruit that he would hardly have to move to finish his meal.

 

_I’m not sure how this will turn out, but if it ends with at least one less person in my family around to kill me, I’ll be happy._


	11. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: For Want of a Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princess Ziyal's memories have been turned into feathers and scattered across many different worlds. In order to recover them, Princess Ziyal must travel to many different worlds. She is accompanied by her childhood friend, Jake, a pair of strangers with reasons of their own for traveling, and the mystical Odo, the being who allows them to travel between worlds.  
> Their latest stop, the world of Outo, promises to be interesting. If only because of the pseudonyms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.

“Hmmm.”

 

Jake looked over at Odo at the sound, hoping the strange being wasn’t about to break something in this world.  They had barely managed to smooth things over back in Spirit, and Odo’s attitude towards the bookshelves hadn’t helped at all with locals already predisposed against outsiders.

 

This time, thankfully, Odo seemed to simply be studying the café accoutrements that Jadzia had so cheerfully bought with the money Worf had earned by killing that… _oni_ , apparently.  So Jake turned back to cleaning the space up, preparing it for the next day’s opening.

 

“And what exactly is this ‘café’?” Odo asked.

 

“A place to sell sweets and tea and gather information,” Jadzia explained.  “Hopefully, we’ll get people in here who are happy to chat with a pair of friendly waitresses, and we’ll pick up information quickly about Ziyal’s feather.”  She paused, glanced over at Jake, and said, with a mischievous smile, “Or at least information that will point the puppy pair towards it.”

 

Jake winced.  Never ever again would he allow Jadzia to pick pseudonyms.  Never again.  Still.  “Thank you, Jadzia, for your help in finding the princess’s memories,” he said with a half-bow.  He’d said it before, of course, but it bore repeating.  Especially since Jadzia didn’t have to do anything.  _She_ wasn’t trying to get home, just travel the multiverse.  Unlike Worf, who would leave them if they ever made it to Q’onos.

 

“Don’t be so formal all the time, Jake,” Jadzia scolded.  “We’re traveling together, right?  So it’s only natural for me to help you, especially if it doesn’t put me to any trouble, which this doesn’t.  The lady at City Hall said I had to work in this country, and this is the kind of work I’ll enjoy, and it’ll be easy to keep an eye on Ziyal while she helps me.”  Jake’s worry must have still shown, for Jadzia leaned over and patted him on the shoulder.  “Don’t worry so much, Jake.  I’ll make sure she doesn’t overdo it while she continues recovering.”

 

Jake nodded slowly.  It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jadzia – this was the fifth world they’d come to, after all, and if she’d wanted to harm them she could have done it many times over by now.  It was just that he was so unused to seeing Princess Ziyal so… helpless.  Without her memories, she didn’t have the energy he was used to seeing in her, and there were still so many things she didn’t remember, didn’t have any kind of context for, and he couldn’t help her as much as he wished since she would never remember him –

 

“Shh,” Jadzia murmured, wrapping him in a loose, one-armed hug.  “I don’t know for sure what you’re thinking about right now, Jake, but I have a pretty good guess.  And I won’t say something stupid, but… even from what little I’ve seen, being the kind of guy you are means you’ll keep going without complaint, and that’s… you can depend on us – well, on me, at least – to have your back, and I think Worf, too, especially now that he’s teaching you how to use a sword.  If you need to talk to someone, you can talk to me, okay?  And I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through, considering the price you paid to the Witch, but know this: we will succeed at getting all of Ziyal’s memories back, and you can build a new relationship with her.  You already are, you know?  So it won’t be the same as it was.  But… there’s still hope.”

 

Jake slowly wrapped his arms around the older woman and just let her _hold_ him for several long moments.  Finally, composure back in place, he backed away.

 

“Better for now?” Jadzia asked, sympathy coloring her face.  “Then let’s get the Cat’s Eye Café ready for tomorrow’s big opening!  Then you and Big Puppy can go fishing for _oni_ , okay?”

 

“I have told you to not refer to me by that name,” Worf snarled from the doorway, loaded down with the bags of flour and other baking ingredients Jadzia had sent him to buy.

 

“But Big Puppy, it’s your name here in Outo!” Jadzia protested, grinning at him.  “Just like Jake is Little Puppy and I’m Big Kitty while Ziyal is Little Kitty.  And Odo is Odo, of course.”  She turned her smile on the strange being.

 

“Hmmmph,” Odo grumbled, and he shimmered liquid gold, shape changing until he resembled his preferred form of small yellow-gold rabbit thing.  “I shudder to think of what kind of nickname you would have given _me_ had I not been there to prevent such a thing.”

 

Jadzia laughed.  Worf slammed the dry ingredients down on the counter top, although he gingerly lowered the more fragile ones.

 

Jake sighed and shook his head, but his lips twitched up into a fond smile despite his better judgment.  He hated the trigger for this journey, but he couldn’t help but think that he was glad he was making it with these people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end.  
> Part 3 of this AU series, TV show fusions, will likely be delayed until May due to Camp NaNoWriMo.


End file.
